376 POULTRY CULTURE 



Capon. — See that the capon is fat. Do not pick the feathers 

 from the neck and head down two-thirds to the shoulders. 

 Leave the feather^ on two joints of the wings. Do not pick 

 the feathers from the tail or half-way up the back. Leave 

 the feathers on the legs from the hock-joint to two-thirds of 

 the way up to the hips, the balance of the feathers come off. 



Feathers that are removed should be saved, and will sell if 

 kept dry and clean. Wrap paper around the head. 



In dressing ducks and geese by scalding it requires longer for 

 the water to penetrate and loosen the feathers. Do not pick 

 before killing, as the injury produced to the skin injures the 

 sale of the dressed carcasses. Do not singe the birds after 

 picking, as the heat dissolves the fat and the appearance inter- 

 feres with the sale of the bird. Before packing for shipment 

 poultry must be cold and dry. The animal heat must be out 

 of the body. The packages, boxes, or barrels must be clean. 



Always dry pick turkeys. Do not tear the skin. The tail 

 feathers are taken off with a twist and not by a straight 

 pull. 



In some localities turkeys are dry picked and shipped to 

 market drawn. 



In picking geese all the feathers are removed except the last 

 joint of the wing. 



Some markets classify dressed carcasses as follows: Chick- 

 ens up to the stage when the roosters get "staggy," which is 

 told by the development of the spurs. After this age they are 

 classed as cocks. Pullets are classed as fowl after they begin 

 to lay; however, they may be classed as chickens till after 

 they are one year of age. Chickens are divided into squab, or 

 light broiler, and medium and large broilers, springs, roasters, 

 and capons. 



Bleeding. — It is estimatcnl that at least 30 per cent, of all 

 poultry coming into New York City market is incompletely 

 bled. Much of it is so badly bled that it results in a loss of 

 from two to five cents a pound, as compared with the corre- 

 sponding poultry which is well bled and in good order. 



Aside from the bad appearance of incompletely bled chickens 

 their keeping properties are very inferior. The flesh looses its 

 firmness sooner; its flavor is not so good; the odor of stale flesh 



